Video transcript
@The Arts Unit Art Bites – Solo vocal workshop – 03 Audition tips part 1

CHARMAINE GIBBS: Hello, everybody. We're back together again. I'm so happy to see you all. Can you believe we are at workshop number 3? Where has the time gone? I hope you guys are all doing OK. You have had to adapt to so many changes. And, I think you are all amazing. So, big congratulations to you guys.

Today is the first part of 2 videos on audition tips. So, we're going to look at how to warm-up for an audition, and also how to choose repertoire. So, we always start with our warm-up. As you know, I've got my trusty scarf on again. OK? Just making sure that I'm warm.

Often a lot of you have got to travel a fair distance to your auditions. Even if you don't have to travel that far, it's hard to work out exactly when to warm-up. This is why doing your own practice is so important, so that you know what your voice really does need.

Now, if you're having to travel a really long way, and you have to leave somewhere at say 4 o'clock in the morning, I feel sorry for you. And, please make sure that you just start doing gentle sirens just ...

[Vocalising]

So, we're going to start with that in a moment. OK? What I do want to say is make sure that when you get to your venue - let's use The Arts Unit as an example, and let's use auditioning for Schools Spectacular as an example today - when you get to The Arts Unit, there's always rooms available for warm-ups. Please make sure that you ask to use them if you need them.

It's really important. This is your time. You want to back yourself. You want to give yourself the best chance to sing the best possible way that you can. And, you want to put your best foot forward for the audition panel.

So, don't worry about feeling awkward about asking for audition. Don't worry about feeling embarrassed or anything like that. You've got nothing to feel embarrassed or awkward about. In fact, I would think that was pretty fantastic, that you were taking that sort of control over your own audition.

So, make sure you look after you, in the most respectful and kind way, of course. So, in saying that, I mean respectful and kind to those around you, and those who are there to help you. But, be respectful and kind to yourself as well, absolutely.

So, let's start with our sirens. OK? Let's shake it out. OK? We're going to really just place the shoulder blades into the back there. OK? And, let's start with just our sirens. So, thinking of the word 'Sing.'

[Vocalising]

Let's do that again.

[Vocalising]

Oh, so, if this was my audition day, I'd be thinking, 'Oh, that top part wasn't quite right. It came off the sound.' Let's do that again. We're going to take our surprise breath.

[Vocalising]

Oh, I'm a bit croaky today. Let's go.

[Vocalising]

OK? So, if this was my audition time, I would keep doing those sirens until I felt that everything was very smooth. All right? Sometimes funny things happen to your voice each day. Each day is different with us, vocalists. So, each day brings up different challenges.

All right? Let's now sing our siren. All right? So, we're going to think about our posture. We're in our rehearsal space, our warm-up space. Let's go and ...

[Vocalising]

Take it gently.

[Vocalising]

Last one ...

[Vocalising]

So, again, if that was my audition, I'd do that again, because there was one little interval there I wasn't very happy with, for myself. So, I would go back and do that again. All right? So, always feel free to do that. OK?

Let's start with our 'I' vowel because, you know, I always love that. We can do some slurs. So, we're going to do ...

[Vocalising]

Let's get our posture right again, feeling the earth under us. Let's go and ...

[Vocalising]

One more ...

[Vocalising]

Now, remember, we're not looking for our best singing in a warm-up yet. Yeah, we've got time. I'm just going to grab a water, which is a reminder, because I should've said this in the beginning. Make sure you've got some water with you. When you go to auditions, always make sure you've got a bottle of water with you.

If you have forgotten, normally in an audition waiting area, there is water there for you. So, just always ask, OK? And, if you can't see any water around, ask if you are able to get one. All right?

Again, we're on your team. We're on your side. We want to help you. So, always ask. OK? So, grab a drink of water, and let's continue. So, we're going to do - we're going to still stay on 'I' at the moment. And, we're just going to do our ...

[Vocalising]

Let's go, and ...

[Vocalising]

Going through that trouble spot.

[Vocalising]

Surprise breath.

[Vocalising]

Now, we're going to stop there. We're going to go from that spot, though. And, now we're going to come back down. Yeah, this is going to help me determine how I'm approaching a note from above. Yeah, often singers go to go to a note at the top. We want to go straight in. So, we're going to do ...

[Vocalising]

And, head down. Yeah, we're going to go down the scale. All right? So, can I have that starting note? Again, and ...

[Vocalising]

All through that tough bit ...

[Vocalising]

Last one ...

[Vocalising]

Now, again, if this was my audition, I would go over all that again. I didn't like some of those little gear shifts that I had there, those changes between the head and the chest voice. So, I would go over those again to make sure I was getting them as smooth as possible. All right?

Now, we're going to finish off with one final exercise, because of the repertoire that I've chosen for my upcoming 'audition', OK, requires quite a strong sound, particularly my first piece. So, I want to check that my belt voice is there, OK, and checking how it's sitting for the day.

So, we're just going to do a couple of them. We're going to do them on 'Yeah.' All right? So, we're cheering for our favourite team, our favourite performer, our favourite friends. All right? So, we're going to do ...

[Vocalising]

And, I'm happy with that, because that now caters all the notes that I need for my first piece. So, let's move on to our audition pieces. Now, audition pieces are normally being asked ... well, that was not well put.

We are normally asking for audition pieces to be 2 contrasting pieces. A lot of places, not just Schools Spectacular - goodness me I'm having trouble with my words today. Schools Spectacular asks for 2 contrasting pieces, but so do a lot of places.

And, they also ask for a time limit. So, we're not looking at the entire song. Choose your best 2 minutes of that song, or your best 32 bars of that song. Or, sometimes, audition panels are so strict, and they only want 16 bars. Choose your best 16 bars.

Not what you think are the most showy parts of the pieces. That's not what we're interested in. Sure, we want to see you at your best. But, we don't want all the trills and spills, if that's not what you do really well.

A fantastic friend and singer friend of mine, shout out to Rachel Bay, one day said, 'Show people what you can do. Don't show people what you can't do.' And, it was such an important lesson to these particular singers she was talking to, at the time.

So, let's show what we can do. All right? If I went into an audition, and I tried to do lots of different melismas and things like that, honestly, it would be hilarious. It's not what I'm necessarily good at. So, I wouldn't choose to do that.

I would choose what I've chosen today, right? Now, that doesn't mean they're going to be perfect, not at all. But, this is what I would choose. I've also chosen pieces that are from 2014 Spec, and from 2016 Spec, because I'm auditioning for Schools Spectacular, not really, because they don't let anyone as old as me in.

But, if I was auditioning for Schools Spectacular, I'd look back at what was in previous years - the styles, the sorts of things they choose. I'm not saying you have to go back and choose things from Schools Spectacular. But, look at what sort of repertoire they have.

Now, the first one we're going to do is John Farnham's 'Playing to Win.' This was a fantastic piece back in 2014. Now, what I'm going to do for my audition is, I'm going to take my scarf off.

I've warmed up. I'm ready to go into the panel. My name's been called. All right? Now I'm going to give you an example of what we don't want to see. Now, I've upgraded, guys. It's not the hairbrush this time. I've actually got a microphone, not plugged into anything, of course, at the moment, just for demo. All right?

But, you will have a microphone in the audition room if you're auditioning for Schools Spectacular. So, you can choose to have it on a stand if you want to. You can choose to hold it in your hand. That's up to you, but make sure you've made those decisions beforehand.

If it was me, I would advise to having maybe one on the stand, and one handheld. For the purposes of today, I'm going to just have the handheld, both songs. But, I think in the audition, I'd probably have it handheld for this first one, and on a stand for the second. It's up to you, and what you're comfortable with. So, let's go, great song.

[Music playing]

'If you want me, come and get me. You don't have a chance if you don't move now.'

OK? Did you guys think that was any good? No, it was not. All right. Now, don't we all feel like, 'Oh man,' such nong-heads, standing there, waiting for the instrumental to pass, don't we? We'd go on, 'Please let the ground swallow me up. This is really uncomfortable.'

But, you know what, it's not uncomfortable if you're really in it, yeah? It feels weird when you're the only person in a room, and you've got people behind a desk looking at you. But, those people behind the desk are looking at you going, 'Come on. We want you to be awesome.'

Yeah. So, they want to see your energy straight away. And, that energy is going to give them an opinion of you, straight away. All right? I can promise you, if you're standing like that, the panel are going to go, 'Oh, no. Oh, no.'

First of all, they're going to feel sorry for you. And, secondly, they're going to go, 'Oh, dear. Oh, no. What's going to happen here?' If they see someone switch on straight away, and be in that moment, they're straight away going to go, 'Oh, they're good.' And, you haven't even sung anything yet. All right? You want them on your team. OK?

So, let's do it again. Let's really go for it. Let's have some fun together. OK? Let's go. 'Playing to Win' by John Farnham.

[Music playing]

You don't have to look at them, but look around the room, yeah?

[Music playing]

'If you want me, come and get me. You don't have a chance if you don't move now. I'm not waiting any longer. You know that I'm playing to win this time.

When you make your move, I won't hesitate. If it takes too long, it could be too late. This time, I'm playing to win.

Come on. Come and see me. Don't wait around for another chance. Make your mind up. Make your bet. This time I'm playing to win.

When you make your move, I won't hesitate. If it takes too long, it could be too late. This time, I'm playing to win.'

OK? Now, that is all the panel probably really need to see. All right? No, I don't know why I'm holding this microphone. It's not attached to anything. OK? So, the panel don't need to see any more than that.

Now, I actually made a couple of mistakes that time. But, did I stop? No. Did I show that I'd made some mistakes? I hope not. OK? It doesn't matter if you make a mistake. Keep going.

Was I happy with that? No, not overly. But, I'm not going to show that. I'm going to keep going. All right? Now, because I promised I would not go too long on this video, and I've already gone over the time that The Arts Unit asked me to, we're going to just very quickly go to the contrasting song.

Now, this is a song that was beautifully sung in 2016 called, 'There's a Hero.' We're just going to do a little bit of this one. This shows something different. This is the one that, I would say, this is a lot more still. But, there's a lot of intensity and performance in still work, yeah?

It doesn't mean that you stand there with no expression. Remember that you have to know exactly what you're singing about. If we look back at our Workshop 1, all that time ago, I talked then about really knowing what you're singing about.

If you really know it, if you really feel it, your panel are going to be like, 'Oh, wow.' OK? So, really think about that. OK? Let's go in to 'There's a Hero.'

[Music playing]

'There's a flower in the smallest garden, reaching for the light. There's a candle in the darkest corner, conquering the night. There is amazing strength in a willing hand. There are victories that you never planned. There's a hero in everybody's heart.

There's a fire inside everybody, burning clear and bright. And there's a power in the faintest heartbeat that cannot be denied. There is amazing strength in a willing hand. There are victories that you never planned. There's a hero in everybody's heart.'

OK? And there's our 2 contrasting pieces. OK? So, that's when you might get asked some other questions. The panel might want to have a chat with you a little bit more. Make sure that you're really engaged with them. Make sure you always say 'thank you' as you leave the room.

And, next week, we're going to talk about some more audition tips, some things about what to wear, how to dress appropriately for what you're auditioning for. And, just the follow through and the sum up of auditions themselves. They're quite an art form.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with them. I kind of love to do it. And, then other times, I go, 'I hate having to do this.' But, they're the necessary thing that we have to do. Anyway, it has been so great being with you again.

I've gone over time again. I can't help it. I just love being with you guys. And, I look forward to seeing you next time. See you later.

[Music playing]